TRACKING TOURISM

Colorado Ski Visits Drop

By Bob Berwyn, 1-17-08

	A photo posted on the Colorado Avalanche Information Center web site shows the path of a avalanche that killed a climber in the Sangre de Cristos Mountains, east of the San Luis Valley in south-central Colorado. Photo courtesy of the CAIC.

Skier visits in Colorado ticked down a bit from last year during the first few months of the season, according to a Jan. 17 story in the Aspen Times. Releasing its first seasonal update on skier numbers, Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) reported that its 26 member resorts tallied about 2.8 million skier visits between Oct. 10 and Dec. 31, a 12.5 percent drop from last season.

A dry and warm November, along with an early Thanksgiving holiday, were the key reasons for the decline, according to CSCUSA officials. This year’s numbers for the first part of the season are more in line with a typical year, according to the state’s ski resort trade group. Last year, Colorado saw prodigious snowfall in October, setting the stage for a record-breaking early season in terms of skier days. This year, the big dumps came in December, with well above-normal snow totals at some resorts. But those storms may also have hampered travel to the mountains.

And some resorts may not have the work force needed to service all those tourists. In an interesting story in the Vail Daily, Edward Stoner reported that a local restaurant will stop serving lunch some week days because of a labor shortage.

Sweet Basil, a long-time Vail hot spot, can’t find enough cooks to staff its kitchen, and will cut back operating times at least temporarily. The owner of the restaurant advocated for more affordable housing, saying the worker crunch will only get worse unless the community finds ways to house service sector workers. The restaurant has upped wages significantly in the past few years and even bought a four-bedroom condo in East Vail to house its own employees.

Outside the swanky resorts, snow slides continue to prove deadly in the backcountry. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) recently posted preliminary reports on the two most recent deadly avalanches, including a fatality in the East Vail chutes. In a separate accident, a climber was killed last week in a large slide in the Sangre de Cristos Mountains.

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